Casting plug



Sept. 6, 1955 A. A. GLASS 2,716,831

CASTING PLUG Filed Aug. 28, 1955 Ar/hur A. 6705s I N V EN TOR.

United States Patent CASTING PLUG Arthur A. Glass, Freeport, N. Y. Application August 28, 1953, Serial No. 377,059 2 Claims. (Cl. 43-4231) The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in a novelly constructed and performing casting plug, which is so constructed and equipped that it will be capable of being effectively and reliably cast and thereafter retrieved with requisite certainty and to the utmost of satisfaction 'to the user thereof.

Wih a view toward providing fishermen with a plug to aptly and satisfactorily satisfy their needs, 'many different solutions of the problem have been taken into account and worked out in one way or another. Generally speaking, it can be said that some prior art plugs have been loaded in front to insure proper action in the water but it has been observed that this sort of a construction tends to interfere with and destroy proper casting because the plug is caused to twirl while in flight. The wind resistance created by twirling noticeably-cuts down on the casting distance and often causes backlashes as well as occasional fouling of the line and the plug. On the other hand, plugs that are weighted in the tail or trailing end portion have good casting properties but do not imitate the action of the real fish when in the water. It is an object of the instant invention to provide a plug construction with a hollow chamber proportion which is charged with relatively small weight means and wherein at the start of the cast, the weight, which is movable, moves freely to the tail portion and stays there until the cast is completed. Then, when the plug is retrieved, water pressure on the baflie plate or fixed spoon, as it is sometimes called, at the forward or nose portion, causes the body to tilt and the tail to lift. The movable weight, mercury, shifts to a retaining pocket or reservoir in the head portion and remains there until completion of the retrieving step.

It is believed that the invention, which may be a plug made from any suitable material such as wood or plastics, insures reliable and effective casting properties without destroying the action of the plug in the water, due to the fact that the movable weight is in the tail during the cast, causing the plug to move tail-first while in flight and thereby eliminating wind resistance and insuring longer and more accurate casts. The water action is, under this construction, not hindered since the weight shifts to the front and remains there during retrieving and allows the tail to simulate effectively the action and movement of a natural bait.

Briefly summarized, a preferred embodiment of the invention has to do with a casting plug of suitable materials and external shape and size characterized by a hollow body having suitably designed head and tail portions and provided with pivoted fishing hooks, and movable weight means in the hollow chamber portion of said body, said weight means occupying a position of limited confinement in the tail portion of said chamber at the start of the cast and staying there until the cast is completed and being automatically shiftable to and retaining a restricted position of limited confinement in the head end of said chamber when the plug is being pulled in and thus retrieved.

Patented Sept. 6, 1955 Further novelty is predicated on the structure stated wherein the preferred form of the weight is a rollable mass, limited in overall quantity, of mercury, and therefore a proper total heaviness for intended weightage.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure l is an elevation, partially in section, of a plug constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and showing the position which it is in while making the outward cast to the fishing spot;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the position which the bait takes in the water when it is being retrieved;

Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view but with parts in elevation showing the details of construction and with the mercury in the pocket provided therefor at the leading or head end of the chamber.

Figure 4 is a cross-section on the vertical line 44- of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings and with special reference to Figure 3, the plug as a unit is denoted by the numeral 6. It may be made of any suitable materials such as wood, plastic, etc., and suitably shaped. The central or body portion is denoted at 8 and the leading or head end portion at 10 and the trailing or tail portion at 12. There is an axial bore suitably formed and this is denoted at 14 and constitutes a chamber. For this reason the body is referred to as hollow. The tail or rear end of the chamber is denoted at 16 and the other end is formed with a recess or cavity which is directed toward the ventral or belly portion 18 and this defines a reservoir or pocket 20 for the charge of rollable mercury 22. This is the movable weight.

The deflector and baflie means takes the form of a deflector, or what is sometimes called a fixed spoon 24, the same having an oblique angled-shank 26 which is screwed or otherwise fastened at 28 to the nose of the head portion, there being a line eye provided at 30 to accommodate the swivel 32 which, in turn, accommodates the fishing line 34. The depending portion of the spoon projects to a plane well below the plane of the ventral surface 18.

The fishing hooks, which are conventional, are denoted by the numerals 36 and these are pivotally attached by suitable brackets or fixtures at the approximate points shown in the drawings.

Whereas it would be Within the purview of the invention to employ some other weight means depending upon whether the plug is a surface, semisurface or deep running type, it will be clear that the pocket and mercury construction herein revealed is preferred. That is to say, a roving liquid weight is desirable. Manifestly, the purpose of the liquid weight is twofold. First, during the cast, the weight is concentrated by centrifugal force in the rear end of the plug causing it to drive straight out and to a greater distance than would otherwise be obtainable. Secondly, at the completion of the cast on striking the water, when the line is tightened the action of the deflector plate 24 causes the tail to lift thus throwing the weight forward into the reservoir or pocket at the nose end and thus eliminating the weight in the tail and permitting normal action of the deflector plate to commence and continue without opposition or drag, such as would otherwise be caused by the weight, and allowing it to ride in a normalposition instead of bobbing up and down and from front to rear.

The deflector plate is so designed as to serve two purposes, one, to determine the depth to which the plug descends and rides by the angle therein and to make the plug wiggle from side to side to simulate the action of a fish swimming rather than the unnatural up and down diving motion attained by the other plugs shown on the patents known to me where the Weights, liquid or solid, move forward and backward creating this up and down unnatural diving motion.

The deflector plates can be made in several designs and readily interchanged so that the plug can be controlled to ride near the surface, a short distance below or at a greater depth at the will of the fisherman. The action of zig-zag motion from side to side, simulating swimming, can also be controlled by the use of types of plates causing short tacks or longer tacks as the desire of the fisherman requires. The plate can be fastened with a more or less permanent screw as shown on the drawing.

Since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A casting plug comprising a hollow body having a chamber portion and having suitably designed head and tail portions, fishing hooks pivotallymounted on said body, and movable weight means in said chamber portion of said body, said means comprising a rollable mass of mercury of predetermined and required heaviness occupying a position of limited confinement in the tail portion of said chamber at the start of the cast and staying there until the cast is completed and being automatically shiftable to and retaining a restricted position of limited confinement in the head end of said chamber when the plug is being pulled in and thus retrieved, said chamber portion having a cavity at the head portion of said body and said cavity providing a pocket into which the mercury is shifted, and confined during said retrieving step, and defiector plate affixed to the leading end of said head portion and depending to a plane below the plane of the ventral portion.

2. A casting plug of the class described comprising an elongate body of suitable external design in appearance and having head and tail portions and also having an axial bore defining a weight-accommodating chamber, said bore extending the major length of the body and terminating short of the head portion at one end and short of the tail portion at the opposite end and being closed at its respective ends, the head portion of the bore having a recess extending toward the ventral side of the body and defining a pocket, at predetermined quantity of rollable mercury normally loading said pocket, said mercury being shiftable along the bore from one end to the other but being lodged and confined in said pocket during the re trieving of the plug, and a deflector plate secured to the head end of the body and including a portion depending below the ventral portion of the body, and fish hooks fastened on said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 431,363 Kelly July 1, 1890 2,270,487 Withey Jan. 20, 1942 2,506,281 Sabini May 2, 1950 2,613,471 Traycik Oct. 14, 1952 2,641,862 Poe June 16, 1953 2,659,176 Wenger Nov. 17, 1953 

